NEA 089 Lunar Meteorite Matched Pair, Both Halves Mirror Polished, 107.30g

A Single Lunar Stone, Cut Once and Polished on Both Faces

This is Northeast Africa 089, an official lunar meteorite classified as Lunar (troct. anorth. melt breccia). The specimen offered here is a single stone that was cut one time through its center. Both resulting halves are offered together, and both cut faces have been mirror polished so that the interior is fully exposed on each.

Total weight is 107.30 g. The larger half weighs 59.15 g and the smaller half weighs 48.15 g. Because the two faces were created by one pass of the saw, they mirror each other. A clast visible near the edge of one face appears at the matching position on the other. The pair reads as a single object opened up, and it displays that way.

Closed, the two halves rejoin into the original stone, with the exterior surface running continuously across the seam. The photographs on this page show the pair both opened and closed. That continuity across the join, on the outside as well as the inside, is what identifies these two pieces as halves of one stone rather than two stones of the same meteorite.

NEA 089 is one of 5 approved meteorites classified as Lunar (troct. anorth. melt breccia), as recorded in the Meteoritical Bulletin database in August 2026. The other four are Northwest Africa 17295, Northwest Africa 17865, Northwest Africa 18211, and Oued Tilemsi 003.

Structure and Features

The Bulletin describes NEA 089 as an achondritic melt breccia. It consists of lithic clasts up to several centimeters across, along with loose mineral fragments of plagioclase and olivine, all set in a fine grained and vesicular crystallized melt. The cut exposes that clast in melt relationship directly, which is the reason for polishing both faces rather than one.

Clasts and melt are both dominated by plagioclase, with smaller amounts of olivine. Point counting within a large clast returned approximately 80 percent plagioclase and 20 percent olivine. No pyroxene was found. Accessory phases are troilite and nickel bearing metal.

Olive green grains are visible on the polished faces and are photographed close up on this page. In most achondrites a green grain of that kind would be ambiguous between olivine and pyroxene. Here it is not, because the Bulletin petrography records no pyroxene in this meteorite at all.

Reported mineral compositions:

• Olivine Fa18.2±1.2 (Fa16.7-20.8), mean Fe/Mn atomic ratio 93.2, n=16
• Plagioclase An97.6±0.6 Or0.1±0.1 (An96.4-98.8, Or0.0-0.4), n=15

Shock stage is recorded as high. Weathering grade is recorded as moderate.

Discovery and Provenance

The Bulletin records that this rock was reportedly found by falconers in June 2024 near Lake Mukhayli in northeastern Libya, and was bought later by Mr. Mohamed Lamin Muftah. Total known weight is 16 kg across several pieces, and the largest single fragment weighs 12.9 kg.

Classification was carried out by K. Metzler at the Institut fuer Planetologie in Muenster, Germany, who also submitted the meteorite. A 20 g type specimen is held at IfP. The main mass is recorded to Mohamed Lamin Muftah. This specimen was acquired by Treasure Coast Meteorite Co.

NEA 089 was approved on 19 March 2026 and is published in Meteoritical Bulletin no. 115, which is in preparation. The Bulletin notes that information deriving from MB 115 or later remains subject to change by the Meteorite Nomenclature Committee. We state that plainly rather than leaving it out. The classification itself carries Official status.

The designation NEA stands for Northeast Africa. It functions the same way NWA does for northwest African finds, identifying the recovery region where a precise find site is not documented. Our guide to what regional meteorite designations mean covers how these numbers are assigned.

Scientific Context: What Troctolitic Anorthosite Means

Anorthosite is a rock built almost entirely of plagioclase feldspar. Troctolite is a rock of plagioclase plus olivine with little or no pyroxene. A troctolitic anorthosite sits between the two, dominated by plagioclase with olivine as the secondary phase. That is what the point counting on NEA 089 returned, and the absence of detected pyroxene is consistent with the name.

The lunar highlands are largely anorthositic, which is why lunar meteorites of highland origin are usually feldspathic. What separates this classification from the broader feldspathic breccia category is the specific plagioclase and olivine assemblage and the melt breccia texture, meaning the rock was assembled and partly melted by impact rather than crystallizing quietly at depth. The vesicular character of the melt phase records gas that was present as that melt cooled.

The Bulletin states the classification was made on the basis of Fe/Mn values in olivine, high An values in plagioclase, and the modal composition of the clasts. Fe/Mn ratios in olivine and pyroxene are a standard discriminator between lunar, martian, and asteroidal material because each parent body carries a characteristic range. Plagioclase at An97.6 is highly calcic, which is typical of lunar highland feldspar and unusual in terrestrial rocks.

For a broader survey of classified lunar meteorites and their groupings, the lunar meteorite compilation maintained at Washington University in St. Louis is the standard public reference. Northwest Africa 18211, which shares this classification, was published in The Meteoritical Bulletin no. 114 (doi:10.1111/maps.70157).

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I buying both halves?
Yes. This listing is for the complete stone, both halves together, 107.30 g total. They are not sold separately. Closed, they reassemble into the stone as it was before cutting.

Why does the smaller half weigh less than half the total?
Material is lost as kerf when a stone is cut, and further material is removed in lapping the faces flat before polishing. The 59.15 g and 48.15 g figures are the finished weights, taken on our own scale to two decimal places.

How do I verify the classification?
Search Northeast Africa 089 in the Meteoritical Bulletin database, or use the direct link on this page. The Bulletin entry is maintained by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society and is independent of us.

Is the main mass held by Treasure Coast Meteorite Co.?
No. The Bulletin records the main mass to Mohamed Lamin Muftah. We hold this specimen only, and we state holder information as the Bulletin records it rather than as we would prefer it to read.

What does the approved count of 5 mean?
It is the number of meteorites carrying the exact classification Lunar (troct. anorth. melt breccia) in the Meteoritical Bulletin database as of August 2026. Counts change as new material is classified. The figure is dated for that reason and can be checked against the database at any time.

Does it come with a specimen record?
Each half carries its own serial number, its own certificate card, and its own permanent public record page. The two records cross reference each other and both state the combined weight, so the pairing is documented on each half independently. This matters if the halves are ever separated by a future owner. See the specimen registry.

Collector Significance

Most lunar meteorite offerings are single slices or fragments cut from a larger mass held elsewhere. This is a complete stone, kept intact as a two piece set, with the interior exposed on both mating surfaces and the exterior still continuous when the halves are closed. Separated between owners, the two halves stop being one stone. That is the reason both are offered together and will not be split.

Beyond display, material with confirmed Bulletin classification and a checkable holder record serves purposes that unclassified lunar material cannot. We cover that in our note on lunar meteorites for aerospace testing and simulant validation. We also hold Northwest Africa 17706, a separate classified lunar meteorite, for collectors building depth in lunar material.

Treasure Coast Meteorite Co. is IMCA Member #3323, SAM registered, and veteran owned. Every classified specimen we list carries its Meteoritical Bulletin link for independent verification.